It is important that data displayed on display devices in critical applications be free of hazardously misleading information (HMI). Undetected HMI—e.g., incorrectly displaying an “8” instead of a “3” on a primary flight display of an aircraft—can cause an undesired event having catastrophic consequences.
Modern display devices typically include commercial off the shelf (COTS) graphics processing units (GPUs) for generating display data and processing graphics intensive applications, such as enhanced or synthetic vision systems. Errors—e.g., design errors—in COTS GPUs have a direct contribution to the generation of HMI. COTS GPUs are highly complex designs, and it may be difficult to determine if there are errors in the devices. In addition, short lifecycles of COTS GPUs also make it difficult to obtain sufficient service experience to provide confidence that a COTS GPU will not generate HMI.
Architectural mitigation—e.g., GPU monitoring—is typically used to ensure protection against display of undetected HMI in critical applications.